Chapter 23 #2
Samari grinned. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know. The streets taught him how to hustle but he learned how a man should love a woman in this house.”
“Your son doesn’t need a spokesperson, Lee,” Kendra said with a smile because his words were true. No matter the man the streets had raised him to be, his father was the first example Asao ever had as to what being a man looked like.
Leedren chuckled, crossed the room, and dropped a kiss on his wife’s temple. “Fish, baby,” he said before he headed to the back to let them do their thing.
In the kitchen, Kendra walked to the refrigerator and removed the two pounds of fish wrapped in kraft paper that she’d asked her husband to pick up from The Marketplace that morning.
There was an extensive list of things needed to accomplish her goal but what she needed more was to ensure she and the woman who owned her son’s heart had an understanding.
“You want something to change into?” Kendra smiled as her eyes traveled over Samari. The off the shoulder crop top and jeans she wore looked expensive and they were about to be elbows deep in flour, cornmeal, and grease.
Samari glanced down at her fit for the day then shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine.”
Kendra motioned to the sink. “Wash your hands.”
After hanging her purse on the back of a chair near the table, Samari walked to the sink and began scrubbing her hands. Kendra unwrapped the fish and placed it on the counter next to the farmhouse kitchen sink, motioning toward it. “You know how to clean fish?”
“I’ve never fried any before but I’ve fried chicken plenty of times.
It shouldn’t be all that different.” Samari grinned, reaching for the fillets.
Kendra walked her through the steps to thoroughly clean the fish.
When Samari was done, they placed the fish in a glass casserole dish in cold water, with a little salt and a tablespoon of vinegar for five minutes while they collected everything else they needed.
Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper, adobo, mustard, cornmeal, and flour to coat the fillets.
Samari asked questions to make sure she was doing everything right ,but for the most part allowed Kendra to deliver instructions she followed.
When the fish was patted dry and Kendra motioned toward the mustard, Samari frowned, not sure the next step made sense.
“We’re really putting mustard on the fish first?”
Kendra arched a brow while she made sure to put a few tablespoons of mustard in a bowl on the counter near the stove. “You learning or questioning?”
Samari grinned. “Both?”
Kendra chuckled. “This is to absorb the smell.” She pointed to the small dish of mustard she placed on the counter.
“That is to make sure the seasoning sticks and gives it something extra. My mother taught me, her mother taught her, and you’re learning from me.
I’m a southern girl and we do things a little different.
” Kendra pointed to the mustard and the sauce brush she wanted Samari to use to coat the fish.
Samari didn’t know a damn thing about frying fish so she would have to trust Kendra’s guidance.
She moved through the steps, brushing mustard on both sides of the fillets before she added the seasoning.
Next they were coated in a mix of cornmeal and flour that also had Cajun seasoning and adobo blended in.
Once each piece was breaded it was carefully placed on baking sheets waiting to be submerged in the cast iron pan of heated peanut oil.
The fish sat for fifteen minutes while Samari cleaned and cut potatoes into thick wedges chilled in ice water before she seasoned them so they were ready to bake while she fried the fish.
By the time they were done, Samari had fried perfectly golden brown fillets that were dark and crispy around the edges.
She had also sampled enough to have her stomach full.
Kendra had sampled just as much but used the excuse of making sure Samari was frying it right.
The time spent had both women smiling and at peace because of the bond growing between them.
“I think I’m going to have to stay away from you and your kitchen.
” Samari smiled, leaning back against the counter while Kendra organized fish and potato wedges into glass containers she’d removed from the cabinets so Samari could take what was left home to Asao.
Kendra had already tucked some away for herself and Leedren.
“I wasn’t that bad.” Kendra grinned over her shoulder and it brought a smile to Samari’s face before she delivered a look that had Kendra laughing. Bad, no. Thorough, yes.
“I don’t play about my recipes.”
Samari grinned. “I respect that but you weren’t that bad, and honestly, I meant I needed to stay away from you because cooking means eating and that could be a problem if I’m eating stuff like this.
It’s so damn good. I don’t know if I can stop myself.
” She rubbed her stomach and groaned from the fullness.
She had enjoyed more than enough but was still craving it.
“There’s nothing wrong with having curves, baby, and I have a feeling my son is going to be dropping you off if it means he gets to eat. Good luck trying to avoid me.”
Samari laughed, absolutely believing that to be true.
“I don’t mind curves. They might actually help my career. It’s the fact that I might not be able to get the songs written and recorded from always being in a comatose state from all this good food.”
After Kendra had the containers tied up in grocery bags, she brought them to the table and pointed to one of the chairs. “Sit down, I want to talk to you for a minute.”
Samari did as asked ,feeling Kendra’s mood change. “Did Asao tell you why his father was in prison?”
“Protecting you…” Samari admitted. Asao hadn’t given her all the details but that much he had shared.
Kendra nodded. “We were out, which didn’t happen often.
We had Asao and Lee was always running the streets to make sure the bills were paid.
Our deal was, if I raised our son, he was to provide a home for me to do so in.
Neither allowed a lot of free time, but that night we decided we deserved a minute to just be.
Me and Lee.” She smiled softly. “He took me to dinner, then we went to a club. Little hole in the wall spot that had strong drinks and too many people. The night was perfect until it wasn’t.
Liquor makes people arrogant and stupid.
A guy thought he had the right to put his hands on me and it ended with Lee taking that man’s life.
It probably shouldn’t have gone that far but it did.
Lee isn’t very forgiving when it comes to the people he loves.
That cost him. It cost all of us but he’s home now. ”
“I’m sorry.” Samari didn’t know what else to say. Kendra smiled, placing her hand over Samari’s and squeezing it before she lifted from her chair. She crossed the kitchen and returned with a phone in her hand. She navigated the screen then placed the device on the table.
“I don’t need you to be sorry. The past is the past. What I need is for you to do the best you can to ensure Lee’s past doesn’t become Asao’s future.”
Samari dropped her eyes to the screen and her heart raced as she scanned the article.
Wallace Denton, known in the music industry as Cobra of Cobra Records, was found dead two weeks ago in his home.
Gunshot wound to the head. It had been ruled a suicide but Samari’s mind went to the same place Kendra’s likely had. This was Asao…
Samari’s brows pinched when she lifted her eyes and found Kendra’s tormented browns still on her.
“I know who that man is and I know the connection he had to you. Asao is so much like his father. He isn’t very forgiving either.
I can only imagine what that means when it comes to you.
There is nothing I can do to stop Lee from being the man he is, just like there’s nothing you can do to stop Asao.
Just please keep that in mind. You care about him.
I see that in you. I don’t want either of us to lose him. ” Kendra squeezed Samari’s hand again.
“Y’all are awfully quiet in here. That means I can eat? Because it damn sure smells good,” Leedren said, entering the kitchen. His eyes bounced between the two women and he paused. “Everything okay?”
Samari exposed a smile and shared a look of understanding with Kendra. She didn’t have any ill feelings about a mother protecting her son, fearful of losing him. Samari shared that same sentiment because she didn’t want to lose Asao either.
“Well, she didn’t run me up out of her kitchen so I’d say that’s a win and I’m pretty sure I just mastered the art of frying fish.”
Leedren chuckled and glanced at his wife, waiting for her confirmation, but she waved him off. “Don’t look at me. You’re here to eat, go eat.”
He crossed the kitchen and lifted a piece of fish while they both watched and waited. Samari was anxious while Kendra was amused.
“Shit, baby, might be better than yours.” The smirk on his face was proof that he was just teasing his wife.
“Don’t get yourself into trouble you can’t find your way out of, Lee,” she warned.
“I know better than that,” he said and crossed the kitchen, dropped a kiss on her cheek ,and winked at Samari. He made sure to grab another piece before he left the two of them to the conversation he felt he’d interrupted.
Kendra turned her attention back to Samari. “The Delane men love hard. It’s in their nature to be protectors, you just make sure you love him just as much and protect him just as fiercely. Promise me that.”
Samari lifted from her chair and leaned down to hug Kendra. “I promise.”
“Okay,” Kendra said softly. The only thing either of them could control was the way they loved the men who loved them and that was a commitment Samari was more than willing to stand firm on.
She didn’t need Kendra’s guidance when it came to that because it was already deeply rooted in the need to give to Asao what he had easily become in her life, everything…
After she left Asao’s parents’ house, Samari made the hour drive to Crescent Cove and parked her car next to Asao’s Jeep.
She smiled because they now had a routine.
He occupied the left side of the small driveway, giving her the right.
His reasoning was because that put her closest to the front door.
She thought about his mother’s words. It was in their nature to be protective.
When she stepped inside, the kitchen was the first stop, where she tossed her keys and purse on the counter along with the two bags of food she’d left his parents’ house with.
She yanked at the knot of one and removed a container that held several pieces of fish along with potato wedges then did a quick search to find her man.
After noting the bedroom was empty she stepped out back where she located Asao stretched out on the lounge chair with Sound Beatz on his head and his phone face down on his chest. She kicked off her shoes and made her way to him, placing the food next to them on the small metal table before she climbed in next to her man, who lifted his arm, welcoming her into his personal space the minute he felt her presence.
With his free hand, he removed the headphones and placed them on the table next to the food and lifted one of the containers, examining the contents.
“I’m pretty sure this is my spot,” Samari said while he placed it on his stomach and worked the lid free which took some effort because he used one hand.
“You want me to move?” He turned in Samari’s direction and kissed the top of her head, then lifted a piece of fish. She grinned and shook her head.
“I see them cooking lessons started,” he said, fully examining the fish which had Samari frowning.
“Why you looking at it like that?”
“Try to see which one of y’all made this, so I can set my expectations.”
She shoved the side of his head. “If you don’t eat that damn fish and tell me it’s the best you’ve ever had then I know something.”
He smirked and took the first bite which consumed half the piece he’d selected, nodding as he chewed. Before he gave his thoughts, he shoved what was left of the fish into his mouth and lifted a second piece.
“I’m going to have to tell my OG she got you right.”
Samari lifted her head. “How do you know she didn’t make that?”
“’Cause it’s straight but it isn’t hers,” he said with a smirk that had Samari reaching over him to snatch the container. He anticipated the move and grabbed it before she could. “Chill, I’m just fucking with you. I can’t tell the difference. You did your thing.”
He dropped a kiss to her temple and grabbed another piece before he returned the container to the table.
“Your mom’s worried about you.”
Asao nodded. “That’s not new, Mari. She’s always worried about me.”
Running the streets kept her up at night. She had given him that talk enough times for Asao to know it by heart.
You’re on a one-way street to prison or a grave, Asao. I can’t handle either. Please don’t make me have to suffer through that.
There wasn’t much he could do about her fears. He would never make promises he couldn’t keep.
“This kind of worry is different. She showed me the article about Cobra.” Samari’s eyes were on his but he only kissed her temple again and moved past it like what she said didn’t matter.
“How did today go with Kolby?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Yeah, baby, I heard you, and that’s not a topic I’m going to discuss. I know why she’s worried and why you want to do the same. Worrying isn’t going to change who I am or how I come behind you, now tell me about things with you and Kolby.”
If anybody ever put her in harm’s way, he wouldn’t hesitate to make sure they paid the price.
That might mean consequences that matched those Cobra had to deal with.
A life for her happiness was a motto Asao was more than willing to live by, but he also would forever be careful enough to not cost her the type of heartbreak his mother was fearful of.
There was only one other person who had to be dealt with and a call to Raaj earlier that day had set things in motion. He wouldn’t discuss that either.
“I need you. I don’t know how not to need you.”
“I know and I’m gonna be here.”
Samari let it go and filled him in on the plans for the listening party. She couldn’t change his ways, so she would accept that worrying and praying for his safety would have to be enough.